Dante's Inferno
by blast-town
Summary: A Sonic fanfiction. Blood and mild language.
1. Good Morning

**Chapter 1: Good Morning**

"What did you think of it?" The thick book made a loud _thump_ as it hit the surface of the glass coffee table. Tails winced at the sound, afraid that his brother's unintentional carelessness may have broken the glass. Noticing his expression, however, Sonic picked up the book, glanced at the glass below, and set the book back down, gently this time.

"It was… an interesting read." Sonic picked at his left ear with his corresponding pinky finger. "Humans have an… interesting way in believing in things."

"Yes they do, and even more! All around the world, there are different cultures and beliefs! As it is difficult, in concern with tolerance, it is fascinating!" The fox's expression was priceless. His twin tails were dancing behind him as his crisp blue eyes shone with great passion and understanding. He rocked back and forth, ears pricked up, and wore a great child's smile. If there was one more thing that made the fox happy and excited, other than the completion of a long-awaited vehicle or the sight of his hedgehog brother, Sonic, it would be discussing his studies on anthropology.

_Beep! Beep!_

"Ah! Breakfast is ready!" said Tails.

Sonic pulled up a chair next to a wooden table in the middle of the kitchen. The house was small, but livable. They built the home on their own, anyways. There wasn't much space between the living room and the kitchen, and from the kitchen to the left, there was a hallway with only two rooms. The bedroom and the bathroom stood straight across from each other. Sonic and Tails slept in the same room, but with different beds. While building the home, Sonic still felt the need to keep his brother close. It was out of protection, although, the hedgehog didn't bother to admit his feelings to his fox brother. Whenever Tails argued about being old enough to have his own room, Sonic said out of a rebuttal, "And what are ya going to do once a thunderstorm breaks out?"

Luckily, that was enough to convince the ten year old fox. At least, until he was thirteen.

Sonic burped out his last bit of pancakes, without the syrup, and orange juice.

"You're welcome," Tails giggled. He sat right across from Sonic and had little ways to go before he was done with his meal. In return, the hedgehog shot his an embarrassing smile and a shrug.

With satisfied stomachs and dishes cleaned, Sonic retreated to the couch to watch TV and Tails reached for the book and gone off to place it back into the shelves in their bedroom. Upon returning, the fox spotted his brother half glued to the TV and half glued to his own thoughts, so it seemed. Tails sat down where Sonic once had his breakfast and asked, "What do you think about those beliefs?"

The hedgehog shifted his head to the left, his peach muzzle resting on the arm of the rather, small couch where his left arm had hung over. He pricked his ears to symbolize more clarity. "Whadd'ya mean?"

Tails shifted a little in his wooden seat for his tone almost sounded like the hedgehog didn't want to listen to any more religious gab. Sonic always had his own way of looking at the world, not that believing in things that cannot be scientifically proven was an issue. Mobians believed in an inner being. But it was the idea of_ laws_ and _regulations_ of how one should live their own lives that which Sonic found very unattractive. The hedgehog never liked living between the rules.

"I mean… Do you believe in a He—"

Tails was interrupted by a sudden blast of small missile fire, which shot through the front door and made an impact on the fox and the rest of the kitchen. Pieces of wood and shards of glass flew into the air, but all noise was drowned out by a harsh ringing in Sonic's ears. The blast was small; not meant to kill, but to scatter. Yet, Tails still got the worst of it. The ringing continued and Sonic tried desperately to regain his senses, as if it could be done psychologically.

The blue hedgehog hated having any of his senses deterred. The humans found Sonic much more sensitive than most animals on Earth, such as spiders, snakes, and dogs. How else was he able to navigate through the planet at such high speeds? Anything that a dog couldn't handle was multiplied almost by ten for Sonic.

The ringing was finally diminishing, but the shot also left Sonic staring through a thick cloud of smoke. It was a clever shot.

"T-Tails… Tails…" Sonic began to crawl off of the couch when a sudden sharp pain deriving from his right side had stopped him. He winced, barred his teeth, and started to remove the glass shard that was embedded in his side. Although there was smoke, Sonic kept his eyes looking into the direction where Tails once was sitting. After a quick and small yelp of pain and after regaining a slight panicked breath, Sonic removed himself from the couch, held his side with his right hand, and began limping towards the direction of Tails.

It was a clever shot.

Midway to Tails, Sonic was unexpectedly jumped by a black, four-legged creature which then threw him violently against the refrigerator. Sonic hit the floor sitting and his vision began to blacken.

Right before falling unconscious, the hedgehog noticed his brother being dragged away from him by the same creature that threw him over.

Three hours later, Sonic came to. He felt himself breathing again and checked the reflexes in his ears. The smoke had cleared, but shown the real damage done to his home. The living room got the least of the impact, other than the glass table and the television. The kitchen, however, was obliterated, other than the refrigerator and the oven, _thank Chaos! _

Speaking of Chaos, Sonic thought quickly of the Chaos Emeralds. Slowly lifting himself up on his feet, Sonic limped more hastily toward a secret floor door in the hallway. He lifted the hatch and walked carefully down the stairs.

Once below, Sonic found that the Chaos Emeralds were gone!

The hedgehog grunted his way back up the stairs and closed the hatch. He looked at his wound. It healed, but with a painful scar and left his remaining blood caked with his blue fur. He would have to clean it out.

Returning to the living room, Sonic noticed an envelope hidden underneath a few shards of glass and a few splinters of wood. Pulling the envelope from underneath, Sonic turned the paper over and found that the flap was taped by a sticker of Eggman's symbol.


	2. City Address

**Chapter 2: City Address**

All the people in Station Square squeezed their way through for breath of air and for a better view of the President. It was the next morning, and cameras flashed, phones recorded, and several news stations battled one another for the best perspective to shoot their video. As the President finally revealed himself to the public after finalizing his speech plans in the Mayor's town house, the citizens cheered and roared. Along the edges, several military men where strategically placed as well as a military helicopter in the sky who's rudders were silent, but the flying vehicle blocked the sunlight at times. The President, with is expensive, choice black suit, his neatly cut black-grey hair, and light skin, raised his right arm to signify silence across the crowd. The people were dogs.

"Greetings, citizens of Station Square! I am happy to know that you all are here or listening to what I have to say, bless technology." Several news people in the back tangled foolishly with their cameras and cords in an attempt to steady them in place. "Now, let us bring about the topic of economics. I am aware than inflation has been taking a huge impact of consumer purchase…"

One final roar of excitement and the President retreated back into the Mayor's town house. The helicopter made its descent behind the town house. Inside, the Mayor shook the President's hand and gone off to fetch some food. The house was old and still had some of the flare of the 1700s, minus the computers and light bulbs. One of the President's agents, with a fancy looking Bluetooth in his ear and sunglasses, even though he was indoors, complimented on the address.

"A mighty-fine speech, Mr. President. Sure got the people going."

"Thank you, sir. But I am afraid that is all I can do. Get them going." The President adjusted his already-adjusted tie. "The best I can do is keep the public from running away from their problems. We definitely don't want that." The agent nodded in agreement. Silence was inevitable for a moment. Finally, the President broke. "Where did that Mayor go?"

As if on cue, a speedy blur leapt on the President, feet on the shoulders and hands grabbing his collar. Once the image came into view, the agents surrounding the President brought out their loaded pistols as fast as they could, which as fast for a human, although one of the agents fumbled on grabbing their pistol. The speed was very sudden. The gust of air from the blur had calmed down and Sonic was angry over the President's face.

"I trusted you! I TRUSTED YOU!" All of a sudden, the hedgehog weighed like a ton and shifted the President backwards and smacked him onto the shiny wood flooring. That was nothing but a sheer exert of energy. The three foot hedgehog was much closer to his face now.

"Why did you do this? WHY DID YOU LET HIM GO?!" Sonic punched the President. The agents hesitated on the trigger. "ANSWER ME!"

No one, including the President, has ever seen Sonic so angry before. His eyes were green, but could've turned red if they had the ability to. Then again, green was a _coincidental_ color for his pupils to have. It surprisingly fit in well with his anger.

The President spotted his own bits of blood on the floor and frowned for the shiny wood flooring. Sonic was about to blow in another punch, when a hand gently touched his right shoulder. The blue hedgehog looked behind and saw a familiar face. It was Shadow.

He spoke surprisingly soft. "Sonic, stop this. You don't want to do this."

Sonic grinned, but it was with distaste. His hands were still firm on the President's collar and his surprise weight was still pinning him down. Shadow brought out his own pistol and aimed it right at the side of Sonic's forehead. They stared at each other's eyes for a moment, trying to get a sense of a truth or an answer. Finally, Shadow saw relaxation in the hedgehog's green eyes and lowered his gun. Sonic then released his grip and stood off the President. The agents around lowered their guns, but still held them to the ground. The President got up on his own and dusted the dirty shoe pattern that was left on his shoulders. Locking eyes with Sonic, he finally spoke, clearing his throat.

"We needed him." The President looked out at the large window to his right where his helicopter had parked. He looked back at Sonic. "We needed him to expand our military technology."

"So, you—you let him go?" He didn't know whether to feel angry or sad, so instead he took a seat on the floor.

"We settled on a deal."

"A deal with the devil." Sonic thought of the book he was reading.

"It was worth the chance—"

"You could've hired my buddy, Tails."

"Tails does vehicle work, we wanted mechs. We wanted people with robotic armor. And Eggman was the only expert on that."

Sonic cursed that that much was true. But he still found no reason why the President should let an evil mastermind go. At least, put him under work with a barrel to his head. And then, he found his answer.

"My military for his freedom."

Before Sonic could get any angrier, Shadow interrupted. "And why wasn't I informed of any of this?"

The President answered it like any other common question regarding your favorite color or movie. "Your relation with Eggman also… As well as the G.U.N. Your sector does not exist to us any longer."

"Wh—What?" Sonic looked at Shadow's wide red eyes and then looked at the President. So calm and collected. God damn him.

"We've decided to cut ties with your G.U.N. agency. We are no longer funding nor are we acknowledging your existence here in the government."

The black hedgehog stared at the ground for a second. "Why?"

The President shrugged. It was the last straw for Sonic.

"You son of a bitch! My home was terrorized and my brother kidnapped because of YOU! This was all your DAMN FAULT. He's been under your sweet surveillance for five years and you let him go all so that he can be a good boy as so long as he doesn't hump your leg?!" The hedgehog was almost seventeen now. It was the middle of April.

"Our fault?!" Sonic jumped at the President's rebuttal. Shadow did as well.

Bending over to get a closer look at the blue hedgehog's face, the President continued, "It was YOUR fault that fact that this guy has ever made it into our world!"

"What are you talking about?!" The blue hedgehog was confused at the President's poor blaming techniques.

"We humans no longer share any responsibility for Dr. Eggman's actions! He is all yours!"

And with that, the President left.

Sonic kicked dirt as he descended down the stairs of the town house. He passed the podium and there were random scraps of paper, confetti, and _I love you Mr. President_ posters all over the ground. Shadow followed behind, but was rather calm compared to his counterpart's growing anger.

"I—I can't believe this, Shadow. The President shit on us!"

Shadow leaned on one of the pillars of the town house. "He did."

The sun was already descending, painting the sky a strange mixture of purple and orange. But Sonic didn't have a home to go to anymore, at least, one without the shattered glass and broken piece of wood.

"I will send Team Chaotix for an investigation on your home." said Shadow. "Maybe we will find some leads as to where Tails might have gone, thus finding Eggman."

Sonic nodded in agreement and then spoke. "Here, give this to them." It was the note from the house. Sonic didn't open it yet.

Shadow grabbed the note and went to his motorcycle parked in front of the steps. He revved up the engine and sat down, but not without a parting gift.

"Sonic… don't go losing yourself."

The blue hedgehog laughed a little. "Since when have you been _soo_ concerned about my well-being?" Then he thought of the barrel to his head. Shadow would've done it. Would've done it if he had to. Would've… if Sonic had turned…

Shadow spoke softly, "Even I know when you are you and when you are not." The black and red hedgehog threw him a wrapped up chili dog that came from a bag that hung to the side of his motorcycle. "Just find a place to relax." He nodded, and then drove off into the sunset.

Sonic unwrapped the chili dog, which was still warm, and bit into it. As Shadow vanished into the horizon, the blue blur thought to himself, _I almost died back there_.


End file.
